Gabriele Heinen-Kljajić, minister for science and culture of Lower Saxony

This conference, providing an interactive environment and networking possibilities, especially for the next generation of female scientists, is an ideal setting to discuss different career options and to exchange experiences.

Besides the immediate benefits for participants of a networking event, there may be some long-term effects as well: In the context of the World Exposition EXPO 2000, the 'International Women's University for Technology and Culture' (IFU) took place in Hannover and at other campuses located in Lower Saxony. Many of the contacts and acquaintances then established still exist and were channelled into the 'Maria Goeppert Mayer (MGM) Programme' for international gender research. The objectives of the programme were to strengthen international scientific exchange, to structurally anchor gender research in teaching and research and to support young researchers in the field of gender research. Visiting professorships have been awarded and centres for women and gender studies have been founded and equipped financially.
These programs were very successful and have contributed to the founding of women networks.

In 2007, the Federal-State Working Group of Institutions for Women's and Gender Studies in Lower Saxony (LAGEN) was founded; its members are recruited mainly from the gender research centres. Since then, LAGEN has been discussing joint research topics aiming at the interconnection of individual research sites via teaching projects. On top of that, it orchestrated common applications for visiting professorships. Furthermore, the format of a common interdisciplinary graduate colloquium was agreed on and implemented. Its task is to coordinate gender research of young researchers in Lower Saxony and to promote and consolidate the networking of gender research institutions and locations.

Thereby, Lower Saxony research institutions are in a good starting position to compete in Horizon 2020: In Horizon 2020, gender will be addressed as a cross-cutting issue, rectifying imbalances between women and men and integrating a gender dimension into research and innovation programming and content. If two proposals receive exactly the same scores on all other evaluation criteria, the gender balance will be one of the factors in deciding, which proposal has to be ranked higher. Horizon 2020 is also promoting the gender dimension in research and innovation underlining the need to take into account behaviours and attitudes of both women and men. The gender dimension is explicitly integrated from the outset in many of the specific programmes from the outset.

We need your ideas as young researchers, focused in your network, to enable us to create better research conditions and more sustainable technological innovations. I wish you fruitful and inspiring debates during the 3. Women's Careers and Networks Symposium.


Dr. Gabriele Heinen-Kljajić